If you follow me on Instagram, Twitter or my blog’s Facebook page you’ll have noticed that I visited Canada recently, taking in Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto and the region around Niagara-on-the-Lake. I’ll be sharing lots (and lots and lots!) from that trip in coming weeks. I totally loved all the destinations I visited and cannot wait to go back with Pete for a self-drive holiday.

Our tour of the Niagara region was hosted by husband-and-wife chefs Michael and Anna Olson who not only took us to visit their favourite local producers, vineyards, restaurants and markets but also invited us into their home for dinner and breakfast. We learned several of their delicious recipes, getting involved, asking questions and taking photographs as we laughed and chatted the hours away.

A recipe we all adored was Anna’s Blueberry Sticky Buns, which she made for us with blueberries and peaches, both in season in the local area.

Keen to take inspiration from Anna’s reverence for local and seasonal ingredients, I switched the blueberries and peaches for plums and blackberries gathered from our allotment just hours before.

Anna’s original recipe calls for buns to be cooked individually in a muffin tin, but I’ve followed the variation she showed us to tuck them all together into a baking dish and turn them out whole for a wonderful family-style tear-and-share result. Also following Anna’s example, Pete and I made the dough, filling and buns in the evening, popped them into the fridge overnight to rise slowly and baked them for a perfect Sunday breakfast the next morning.

I’m sharing Anna’s original recipe below.

To make my plum and blackberry version, just switch out the blueberries. Of course, you can use your choice of berries or chopped fruit.

To make the tear-and-share version, smear some of the maple-cinnamon filling across the bottom of a baking dish, and sit the buns side by side on top of that, within the dish. Either rise for half an hour at room temperature, or overnight in the fridge.

We found that the buns need an extra 10-15 minutes in the oven when cooked this way.

In a mixer, add milk, egg and sugar and blend. Add flour, salt and nutmeg and mix for 1 minute to combine. Add butter and cream cheese and knead for 5 minutes on medium speed.

Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let rest 1 hour.

Sticky Bun Filling:

Combine butter, sugar, maple syrup and cinnamon. Spoon a tablespoonful of filling into bottom of each cup of a greased 12-cup muffin tin.

Preheat oven to 350 F / 180 C.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough into a rectangle 1/2- inch thick.

Spread remaining filling over the dough, sprinkle with blueberries and roll up lengthwise.

Slice dough into 12 equal portions and arrange them in muffin tin. Allow to rise for 1/2 hour.

Bake for 30 minutes, and turn out onto a plate while still warm.

Huge thanks to Anna for sharing and showing us her delicious recipe, and for giving permission to share it with you. And of course, thanks to all of those involved in making my trip to Canada so amazing. I can’t wait to share more with you soon!

Ooh these look so delicious. I love that you’ve used plums, I have a laden plum tree in the back garden! I really enjoy Anna Olsen’s series on Food Network and it must have been a real treat for her to cook for you. Yummy post. Sammie

Plum and Blackberry is a great idea, I bet they were wonderful. My blueberry sticky buns lasted about 30 minutes with all the Glams eating huge amounts. So lovely to have spent time with you in Canada. Great trip, great recipes. GG

These remind me of home – *sigh* Like Helen I love the tear and share idea but if I make things like this (rarely, but it happens!) I tend to chicken out and go for Anna’s muffin tin suggestion so ensure every bun gets its fair share of heat. Your tweak with *our* seasonal fruit is just gorgeous. Looking forward to hearing more about your delicious sounding trip xx

Can’t claim any credit for the idea to add fruit or the recipe itself — all down to the lovely Anna Olson. She inspired me to swap in seasonal fruits from our own allotment, hence the plum and blackberry combo, which I was so happy with!

Wow what a breakfast and I’m impressed you could be bothered on a Saturday night to make them. By Saturday I’m usually shattered. It’s the one day I can’t be faffed by evening, by Sunday I’m fine, but Saturday night nope!